In story-driven games, 'Game overs' are a failure of game design, says David Cage

"I've always felt that 'game over' is a state of failure more for the game designer than from the player."

- Quantic Dream CEO David Cage discusses game design in his upcoming title Beyond: Two Souls.

Talking to Joystiq, the creator explained that players won't be able to die at all in Beyond: Two Souls, but rather, you'll either end up in a successful state or a failure state depending on the endless result of each section of the game.

For example, in one area of the game, the player will either be able to escape from enemies on a train, or be caught and then have to deal with an alternative story path in which they are caught. The idea expands on story elements that Cage has explored in his previous games, including Heavy Rain.

Discussing "game over" scenarios, he said, "It's like creating an artificial loop saying, 'You didn't play the game the way I wanted you to play, so now you're punished and you're going to come back and play it again until you do what I want you to do.'"

He continued, "In an action game, I can get that - why not? It's all about skills. But in a story-driven experience it doesn't make any sense."

Cage also revealed this week that Beyond will feature a two-player co-operative mode, in which one player controls an entity attached to the main protagonist. What's notable is that the second player will be able to control this entity via a mobile app.

The Beyond Touch app will be free to download for iOS and Android devices, and Cage says that he is hoping to reel in more casual players to play the game.